Those measures come on the heels of 37 break-ins throughout September and October, far above the number of burglaries during that two-month span in 2005 and 2006.

But in past years, burglaries on EMU's campus have often been downgraded as larcenies - a pattern discovered during a three-year independent audit of campus crime statistics ordered by the U.S. Department of Education.

The audit was one of several mandates made by the federal agency after EMU was cited for violations of the federal Clery Act, including failing to warn the public about a slaying on campus. The Department of Education reports said EMU also misclassified eight sexual assaults.

An analysis of EMU's crime data shows many burglaries from 2004-2006 were first classified as larcenies, typically referred to as petty theft. After the audit, the number of burglaries on campus in 2004 was revised from 14 to 57, and from 45 to 102 in 2005.

In 2005, a set of master keys was lost or stolen, which many faculty members said led to a rash of break-ins at campus offices.

Several of this year's burglaries have occurred in dorm rooms, where students were showering or woke to discover an intruder.

EMU Public Safety Lt. Jeff Nesmith said 16 of the 23 dorm burglaries in September and eight of the 13 in October involved unlocked doors.

"People are taking advantage of unlocked doors," Nesmith said.

EMU spokesman Ward Mullens said universities walk a fine line.

"Do you lock people down, or do you give them the advantage of freedom of expression on a campus?," Mullens said.

EMU's approach to combating the problem has included both educational efforts and physical ones - such as cameras and security guards.

Overall crime on campus has received heightened awareness during the past year, following the slaying of student Laura Dickinson in her dorm room last December. Police have said Dickinson was asleep when an intruder entered her unlocked door.

Interim Public Safety Director Bob Heighes said officers are "pounding the turf, visiting classrooms, trying to deliver the message that the college is safe, but we're doing everything we can do to make students safer."

That includes making all dorm stairwell doors exits only and requiring identification for after-hours entry.

The university also has beefed up its "Gotcha" program, which is several years old in the dormitories but was expanded to other buildings in late October.

Housing staff and public safety officers turn the doorknobs on residents' rooms. If they find an unlocked one, they lock it and attach a tag that reads: "Gotcha."

Associate Housing Director Brian Fitzgerald said one student lost his laptop because he left his key in his door and never reported it missing. Someone returned and took the computer.

"Most colleges face the same thing," especially with freshmen, Fitzgerald said.
The message appears to be getting through to some students.

"Anybody who doesn't lock their door is stupid and, yes, I said that," said 19-year-old freshman Jelani McGadney. "You're asking for something to get stolen, and it won't be the fault of Eastern Michigan University."

McGadney, the freshman president of Wise Hall, said he wasn't so militant about security when he arrived on campus in September, but wised up fast during a dormitory safety program.

Now, McGadney said, he and his roommate have a plan: "We leave, we lock."

Eastern Michigan University freshman Jelani McGadney.

At the University of Michigan, a rash of dorm burglaries prompted officials to install a key card system of self-locking doors in 2002. EMU currently does not have plans for a similar system.

U-M campus police spokeswoman Diane Brown said break-ins dropped from 99 in 2001-02 to 35 the following year when the key cards were added, forcing students to swipe an identification card to enter locked residence halls. In addition, cameras scan main entrances, and the buildings are patrolled nightly, Brown said.

For EMU roommates Jennifer Alexander, an 18-year-old Detroit freshman, and Maria Powell, a 19-year-old freshman from Chicago, locking their doors is a must - whether they're gone for five minutes or even when they're in the room.

Why?

"Because I like my laptop," Alexander said.

News staff reporter Art Aisner contributed to this report. Susan Oppat can be reached at soppat@annarbornews.com or at 734-482-1166.